The Challenge
by Marissalyn
Summary: Carmilla deals with a drunk Laura.


Watching over Laura while she was sober was challenging enough as it was, but handling a drunk Laura was even worse.

You thought it'd be a good idea to take her and her dimwit friends out for drinks. You also thought it'd be a good idea to let Laura try some of the club's special brew that was infused with fairy juice. From your past experiences with the stuff, it barely did anything to you, and for most other people it usually just left them a bit tipsy and loose lipped. But for Laura, who had decided that she could handle three shots of it, was arguing with you on whether or not it was safe to sit on the floor of the car while the vehicle was in motion.

"Laura, would you please just sit in a seat." You said exasperatedly, the two of you have been arguing back and forth for a total of five minutes now, and you were beginning to lose patience. Drunken people were never your favorite, whether she was your girlfriend or not you were just about ready to force her into a seat and buckle her in.

"Where's LaF?" Laura asked, ignoring your request.

You rolled your eyes before responding; "They went home with Perry an hour ago."

Laura smiled goofily, "That's nice, they're good for each other."

You nod your head, "Yeah, they're the perfect elderly couple you see on the back of a Kellogg's box, now would you please sit in a seat?"

Laura huffed, before oh so graciously maneuvering herself into the passenger seat and fumbled with the seatbelt for another minute until she was able to buckle herself in.

"You good?" Carmilla asked in annoyance as she looked over at Laura for confirmation before starting the car. She just wanted to get home and into bed without any more obstacles.

XXX

"Laura, I need you to move your feet." You said as you held the dorm hall door open for her to walk through.

Laura struggled to keep her eyes open as she grunted in acknowledgment of your words. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She said as she continued to stand in place.

You rolled your eyes, "That's it." You said, moving over to Laura, scooping her up into your arms and carrying her into the dorm hall.

Laura giggled, wrapping her arms around your neck and pressing her lips to your cool skin. "I love you." She mumbles.

You blink, so shocked are you to hear that admittance that you nearly drop her. You're quick to respond though, "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do." Laura said, leaning back to look at you through squinted eyes.

You shake your head, looking away from her and straight ahead to where you will need to carry her up three flights of stairs, considering the gnomes got into the elevator's controls last week and fried the circuit. "Laura, you are completely out of your head and as drunk as a sailor on leave." You say as you begin the trek up to the third floor.

Laura shook her head, leaning back into your shoulder. "I love you Carm, no amount of fairy's juice can make me think otherwise."

You ignore her; pretending that you didn't hear what Laura thought to be a romantic utterance. You've heard it before, intoxication can make girls say anything; can make you say anything. You instead press a kiss to her hair and whisper, "We're almost home, just stay with me long enough to get you to bed."

If Laura weren't as drunk as she was, you would have worried about your use of the word home. Laura and you had been dating only a month, it was too early to be thinking such things as she being the only thing keeping you standing, and the only reason you were still breathing. It was too early for her to be saying she loved you; it was too soon for you to be calling the dorm room home. It was merely a home away from home, but being it as you shared the room with her made it not your home, but hers as well. The fact scared you, and if your heart weren't already beating at such a slow pace; you think it would have stopped all together. A heart attack would be too kind in your old age.

You reached room 307 soon enough, unlocking and twisting the knob with one hand, as you tried to balance Laura's weight with the other. She had fallen asleep once you had reached the second floor, and you didn't really see the point in waking her only to have to deal with the repercussions of a grumpy drunk.

Stepping over your discarded clothes, you reached Laura's bed, leaning down to lay her onto it and pulling the comforter over her. Once she was settled in, you moved to your side of the room and slipped out of your boots and jeans, crawling beneath the covers and hoping hung-over Laura would be kind to you.

XXX

You woke to the sound of water hitting tile. Once you were able to associate it to the shower running, and hearing barely any movement in the bathroom, you suspected that Laura was just standing beneath the hot stream of water and hoping that it would wake her and wash away the sheen of sleep that enveloped her body from the night before.

You waited with bated breath for Laura to come out of the bathroom, drying her hair and going straight for the fridge. You watched as she pulled out a grape soda and opened it, taking a large gulp that left you grimacing, remembering the feeling of sugar coating your teeth when you bit into her neck.

"Carm, you're staring." Laura said, setting the can down onto the counter and tossing her towel into the hamper.

You shake your head, looking briefly down at your hands before looking up at her again. "Do you remember anything from last night?" You asked. You were hoping that she wouldn't remember her declaration of love for you. You were hoping that only you would remember it. The other half of you wanted her to though, wanted Laura to know that she told you she loved you and meant it, because even that you weren't too sure of.

When it came to Laura you weren't sure of much, everything that you had learned about women over the years, the similarities in ways that were to your advantage and weren't you had memorized for later purposes, but with Laura none of the previous information was useful. She was a new book, a blank journal that you had yet to write in, and as you look at her now waiting for her answer that would tell you what the rest of your time with her, however long it was, would play out, you weren't sure if you wanted her to remember. You weren't sure if you wanted her to have meant the three words that you yourself had been sure of the moment she told you that you deserved better than what you were given, because if she had meant it, if she really did love you, it meant that you had stained her, you had already written your name into her blank and pristine pages. You would have ruined her for anyone else.

You weren't so sure that you wanted to be that high in importance to her, because if anything ever happened to you, you weren't positive that it wasn't going to hurt her in some way, and you wanted her to feel as little to no pain as possible. You wanted to be able to give her the freedom she deserved when it came time for it. Looking at her now, you knew with an aching truth to it all that you were in love with her, and you were hoping upon hope that it wasn't mutual. You could live with the rejection, what you couldn't live with was the ability to hurt her. After all, stone cannot love flesh; you didn't want to puncture her delicate skin with your rough edges.

Laura cocked her head to the side before saying, "I don't really remember anything past the third shot of fairy juice."

You sighed in relief, nodding. "Well it wasn't much, just you arguing about getting home safely."

Laura smiled, "But you like a challenge."

She was right; you loved the chase, the challenge as she had put it. You loved her.


End file.
